Black Blood (Middle-Earth FanFiction)
by DavidNott
Summary: When a Dwarve is found in the woods outside Erebor. He must face the fierce packs of Orcs alongside the company of Thorin, Son of Thrain, Son of Thror. But is all as it seems as darkness descends on Erebor.


**A Middle-Earth Fanfiction**

Prologue  
>I wake up to the sound of metal hitting metal and the yell of people and orcs. Had I been knocked out? My vision is blurred. My body aches. I see the distorted figure of a person my height. Not one, but five. Then there's the orcs, they make their screeching noise. My vision is clear now.<br>"What on earth is happening?" I mutter under my breath.  
>"Fight them, to the last one!" A dwarf yells. I shuffle back, my clothes scraping on the rough rocks and gravel. We're on hill. That's the last thing I remember. No, the edge of a cliff. Yes, that's right. I try to gather my wits as I see the head of an Orc's head fly off landing to my right. The black blood spills through the decapitated head. I gasp in shock. I have seen worse though. "Get up!" I hear someone yell. I look behind me. It's one of the dwarves. He grabs my arm and lifts me up handing me a sword. I grab it reluctantly. It's heavy, heavier than most swords I have used. I can't focus my eyes on the dwarf. Just the scene of dwarves fighting orcs. The dwarve leaves me. I stand on rough rocks. My body aches, I have a massive cut on my arm, and I am expected to fight. I have been in many situations like this. But nothing this serious. I don't think I can even fight, I repeat to myself. This last about ten seconds before an Orc jumps at me. I step back, stray my stance and lunge forward. Swinging the sword to my left. It slices clean through the orcs upper body. The sound makes me cringe. Blood splatters into my hand. I hear an Orc behind me. I turn around grabbing the sword with two hands. And swing the blade upwards. The orcs head flies clean off. I stumble back from my swing. My hair flies over my face. I can feel the wet blood in my beard.<br>"Get off me!" I hear a dwarf yell. I turn around. The dwarf is dressed in golden armour, different from the rest. I dart towards him. Stabbing an Orc on the way.

I reach them in no time. The dwarve struggles to get free from the Orc's grip. The Orc attempts to stab the dwarf. I run and jump onto the Orc's back, dropping the blade. We struggle for a while. I roll on top of the Orc and smash his head with a nearby rock. His skull breaks from the force. I quickly stand up and pull up the dwarve. He grabs my shoulder to stabilise himself. I push him off quickly and turn around. Kneeling and grabbing the sword on the ground. At first I think the fighting is still happening. When I look up I step back... To the eyes of four dwarves staring at me.

"What happened?" I ask sitting down. My back leans on a tree. Everyone is silent. A dwarve pulls up my right sleeve and inspects the cut.  
>"We found you in the woods, just before we could attend your wounds we were attacked by orcs" said a dwarve stepping forward. The one in gold armour. He looks like a king. But he's too young. Something drips onto my arm. I pull it back, but the dwarve pulls it back.<br>"Wait!" He yells. I stare at him. He wears a cap, it covers the top of his head. Then long black hair coming down the sides in ponytails and a long-ish beard.  
>"Who are you?" The dwarve in golden armour asks.<br>"I should be asking you the same question" I reply. Staring at him. My arm stings wildly. Everyone turns silent.

"I am Bofur" says the dwarve bandaging my arm. He breaks the silent. I cringe my teeth as he wipes the excess blood away. He stands up and steps back.  
>"I'm Balin brother of Dwalin" says another. His hair is basically grey. He has a longer beard than Bofur. Another dwarve puts his hand up.<br>"And I'm Dwalin, brother if Balin" he says. The top of his head is covered in hair and it points upwards, with bald lines on each side. He's the biggest of the five. He walks over and starts searching the orcs bodies.  
>"They won't have anything useful, treasure I mean," I point out, "they keep it all hidden away" I end. Dwalin turns his head and nods. He goes ahead and checks them anyway. I look to my side.<br>"I am Frerin, brother of Thorin Oakenshield!" The one name I recognise, I think. He walks over to Balin who is with Bofur cleaning their weapons of the Orc blood. Now it's me and the dwarve in the golden armour. I can guess who he is. He's Thorin, son of Thrain, Son of Thror.  
>"And I'm..." I cut him off.|<br>"I know who you are, your Thorin, son of Thrain son of Thror" I say, sounding smart. I regret it as soon as it leaves mouth.  
>"Then you should know not to talk to me like that" he says crossing his arms. I open my mouth to say something but am cut off.<br>"Hey, dwarve come and help us!" Dwalin yells. I walk off. Do they know who I am? I hope not. Thorin sighs.

Chapter 1:

I sit silently by the tree. The wind blows my beard and hair to my left. It's early, very early. The sun is just coming up. It's orange and red rays hit our camp. I managed to keep up with the dwarves yesterday. Slowly trailing behind them till we found a flat area along the cliff side. Thorin still isn't happy with my reaction yesterday and u don't blame him. The other seem fine tho.  
>I hear a shuffle. I look around. I settle soon after, as Bofur slowly gets up.<br>"Finally" I think. I can go hunting. I didn't exactly want to leave without anyone knowing. They might think I'm leaving. Which would make Thorin even angrier.  
>Yesterday we managed to drag the Orc bodies and hide them from sight. I took a lot of the energy out of me. I grab my bow (which Dwalin and Frerin found when searching the bodies). It was my fathers. He's dead now. And along with the rest of my family. I slowly stand up, using the tree as support.<br>Before I fully get up Bofur says something. I can't make it out.  
>"What?" I ask in a calm way.<br>"Where are you going?" He asks.  
>"Hunting" I reply, grabbing my sheath of arrows by my side.<br>"Oh, for breakfast?"  
>"Yes, I wanted for someone to wake up before I left. Given the events of yesterday".<br>I swing my sheath over my back and step over Balin, who is snoring loudly.  
>"Don't take what Thorin said last night personally," I turn around, Bofur is staring at me,<br>"he just was recovering from the attack"  
>I close my eyes, and remember what happened. When we had settled down on the cliff face. Thorin had asked me about my family. I kind off refused to answer his questions and it set him off. He blurted out some dwarfish sentences that I don't really want to repeat.<br>"I haven't," I say opening my eyes, "he has every right to be mad at me, I acted smart towards him yesterday, and I deeply regret it" I say empathetically, hoping he will understand.  
>"He isn't king yet, he's just in line" says Bofur lighting his pipe. Smoke quickly flies out.<br>"Are you sure you want to say that when Thorin is sleeping directly next to you?" I laugh.  
>"Oh, ops," says Bofur taking the pipe out of his mouth. He smiles and stands up,<br>"I'll start a fire while you're out, I'll inform the others where you're at".  
>"Thanks" I say walking into the woods behind me. I tread on the twigs and leaves in my path.<p>

I'm a hunter, my father taught me how to use a bow and survive in natural environments. He and my family died two years ago. Leaving me by myself in our house. They were murdered by orcs and goblins. Actually taken captive. I came across their bodies after a few weeks of searching, decaying and rotting. I spot something in the distance. I duck behind a tree and get my bow out. I grab an arrow from my back where my sheath is. I pull it into the string and pull back, ready to shoot. I quickly come out from the tree and shoot the arrow where I saw the movement. It hit the object. I heard a loud squeak.  
>The animal falls from the tree. I dart towards it. It's a squirrel, a large one. I pull the arrow from its eye socket. The red blood spills into my hand. It's dead. I shove it into my huntinggame bag and get another arrow out.  
>I walk around for a while killing another squirrel and a rabbit. We must be near Erebor because I can see dwarve tracks all along the ground. I also pick up a deer track which I follow for a while.<p>

I pull up the bow and aim it at the red animal. Its head leaning over eating at the grass. I let the arrow fly. It lands directly into the deer's side. I slowly falls over. First kneeling on its front legs.  
>"A clean kill" I mutter. I start walking towards the deer. My coat flying behind me.<br>That's when I hear something behind me. Someone walking.  
>I grab an arrow in a split second and draw my bow.<br>I turned around and lifted the arrow.  
>"It's me" the figure says in a low voice. I lower the arrow and look up at the sky laughing. It's Thorin.<br>"Seriously," I say, "give me some warning" I laugh.  
>"I just did" he says. He sounds calmer than yesterday. He steps out from the shadows. He wears a coat like mine but red. There the same because Frerin let me borrow his spare.<br>"Nice shot" he says. Joining me near the deer. He kneels and pulls the arrow out, then passes it to me.  
>"Thanks," I grab the arrow from his hand, "did Bofur tell you I went hunting?"<br>"Yes," he pauses, "he told me which direction you went in and I tracked you". "Why?" I ask. Was he stalking me? I think to myself.  
>"I wanted to make sure you weren't sneaking off" he says. I kneel down to the deer and check its fur.<br>"Well you know now" I say. I shuffle back. Inspecting the deer's hooves. Thorin kneels by my side. "  
>We can't take it," I say, "it's infected, badly". Thorin inspects the deer for a while.<br>"Disease? I can't tell?" He asks.  
>"Disease, I don't know what type. See his blood stream in his belly, its dark purple. He would have died in a few days" I reply. Standing up. I start to walk back. Thorin runs to catch up to me.<br>"I want to say..." Thorin says. I cut him off mid-sentence.  
>"Don't bother, it was my fault, I aggravated you" I say.<br>I look up at the trees. Nearly tripping on a broken branch. I quickly steady myself. Thorin goes silent. After a while he asks something that makes me stop in my tracks. I replay what he says over a million times before I reply.  
>"I know who you are"… That's what Thorin asks.<p>

"Don't tell the others" is the first thing that shoots through my mind.  
>But instead I go with the more strong approach.<br>"Then you know that I went through" I say, turning around. I want to hear him say what he thinks happened in the caves.  
>"Yes...," he pauses, "you were captured. Tortured and beaten by the orcs and goblins" he finishes. I laugh.<br>"Did I miss something?" He asks. I focus my eyes on him. He knows I'm being serious.  
>"I chose to stay in the tunnels," I add, "I thought that if I escaped I would have nothing to go back to. But I was so stupid to think that". What I say makes Thorin gasp.<br>"The reason I don't want people knowing what happened in the tunnels is because they will show sympathy. Like what you are doing now," I example, "it was my decision to stay in the tunnels for a year and decide to escape".  
>We're silent for a while.<br>Then I continue to walk back.

I end up running back to camp. Thorin comes back soon after.  
>I give Bofur the squirrels as rabbit.<br>He takes it and says "Thanks" over a hundred times.  
>Frerin is still sleeping, Dwalin is helping Balin pack up the sleeping bags and Bofur is tending the fire.<br>Everyone seems happy, except me.  
>Thorin knows who I am... But it's not that, that worries me. It's the aftermath if he tells people. I take a seat next to Bofur.<br>Thorin goes to wake up Frerin, his brother. He knows not to talk to me. He's smart.  
>"What's your name?" Asks Bofur. I stare at him. I have to answer quickly. "Threy" I say. It's my name. My mother named it after Threyn my father which sounds a lot like Thorin's father. They are nowhere related.<br>"Fathers name?" He asks. Tending to the squirrel over the fire. I make something up.  
>"Theron" I lie.<br>"Never heard of him" Bofur says smiling.  
>I turn silent. They should know what happened but I'm going to try and keep it down until I need to tell them.<br>"We need to get going soon" someone says. I turn my back. It's Thorin, I see Frerin getting up behind him. He rubs his eyes and yawns.  
>"We haven't eaten yet" says Bofur. Thorin stares at me for a while. I turn my head.<br>"I'm sure Threy won't mind" he says smiling. I signal him to back off.  
>"Let's get out of here," says Thorin again. He grabs his bag and slings it around his shoulder.<br>"You have ten minutes"

Chapter 2:

I walk behind Dwalin and Balin, who are next to each other.  
>Bifur walks behind me, chewing the squirrel he managed to finish cooking a few seconds before we left.<br>Thorin and Frerin are at the front, talking calmly. I have most of the weapons on my back. Dwalin turns around.  
>"You sure you don't need help?" He asks.<br>"I'm fine" I say, panting. I can manage, but it is putting stress on my back.  
>"Here" He says walking over to me. Bifur passes us. Thorin and Frerin don't bother to stop. Dwalin grabs the bag of swords from my back. It slides down my arm. I rub my shoulder where the bag leant. He swung it over his shoulder.<br>"Thanks" I say adjusting my arrow sheath on my back.  
>"No problems" he replies. Balin stopped when Dwalin did. He runs up to Balin and they start up a conversation.<p>

"Where exactly are we going?" I yell to Thorin. Who is a good fifty meters ahead of me. He turns around, walking backwards.  
>"Why don't you tell me?" He yells back. He's mad with me and I'm mad at him. We continue walking.<br>We're not on the Cliffside anymore. We travelled into the woods and onto the barren landscape of hills and valleys. I guess that we're going to Erebor, which is in the distance. A good twenty kilometres.

"It's getting dark" says Bifur. Who is now in front of me. He stops and drops his bag. I pass him.  
>"My legs are going to snap" he mentions.<br>"Keep moving, I want to be home by tomorrow" Yells back Thorin.  
>"We all do," adds Balin, "but Thorin, we need to stop, if we travel through night we will most likely be attacked".<br>Thorin stops walking. He sighs loudly enough for me to hear. He has to listen to Balin.  
>"Fine, we set up camp here" He finally says. Frerin grabs his arm. He's most likely convincing Thorin to keep moving.<p>

I help Bifur start another fire.  
>We're in the middle of a large field. The sun is just setting.<br>"Can I look at your arm?"  
>I turn around. Staring at Bifur.<br>"Sure" I reply. Rolling up my right sleeve. He stares at the wound. It has healed mostly but still stings.  
>"Having the bandage off helped" He says.<br>"Still hurts a bit" I reply slowly rolling down the sleeve.  
>"I'm surprised you could even go hunting, most people wouldn't even be able to move their arm"<br>I stare at the fire. It crackles. I feel wanted here. By everyone except Thorin. But I don't mind. If Thorin wants to kick me out he has to go through Dwalin, Balin and Bifur. I'm not honestly sure about Frerin. He will most likely go with whatever Thorin says.  
>Dwalin and Balin sit behind me. They're talking about getting back to Erebor. Frerin is asleep and so is Thorin. They're the two that wanted to keep moving and here they are sleeping.<br>"Thorin has changed" Says Bifur quietly. I look up, startled.  
>"Ever since we found you he's been agitated, angry almost," he pauses, "he's hardly ever like this" he finishes.<br>"It's my fault, like I said before" I add. Looking back at the burning wood.  
>"Look at me" Bifur says. I look up. The fire reflects in his eyes.<br>"Stop saying it's your fault," he stops and takes a breath, "he has changed. Get that stuck in your head"  
>I lean back and nod.<br>"Good" he finishes. I turn my head. Balin and Dwalin are staring at Bifur. Wait, not at Bifur? I turn my head and look back at Bifur. That's when I see him. He stands behind Bifur. With a big frown on his face.  
>"I've been awake for the last ten minutes and you haven't noticed" Thorin says looking at me.<br>"So you expect me to know your daily waking hours?" I ask jokingly. He manages to crack a smile. Bifur goes silent. I bet he regrets what he said.  
>"That's what you really think?" He asks Bifur. Bifur turns and looks at him.<br>"Look at yourself?" says Bifur, "You're treating him like he's an Orc"  
>Bifur stares at me. I make a look that warns him he's going to get his head bitten off.<br>Thorin starts to say something, but is cut off. That's when I see it. The blade piercing his chest from behind. I stand up drawing my bow.


End file.
